Happy Birthday Jacob! Today is Jake's birthday, the BIG #4. For months he and Isaac have been planning a huge party consisting of things like staying at a hotel w/a pool for 7 days and going to Six Flags....none of which are happening today....I just plan on staying home, making a cake and playing w/new toys....hopefully that will work. Right now all 3 boys are in the tub w/water balloons....

So here's a run down on our Memorial Day weekend.....

Friday afternoon Adam got off a few hours early and started on removing a ton of OLD clapboard and insulation. He only had 2 mouse skeletons fall on him in the process. Then one trip to HD.

Saturday morning--time to get started on roof removal. Not the easiest leap for Adam to take.

This was much messier and harder than I had anticipated....lots of layers of shingle on our roof! Then another trip to HD and a stop at FYE to buy Sarah a new Webkinz for her babysitting payment. Reinforcing and supporting rafters came next, and then the biggest leap yet, CUTTING OUT the rafter.....and now a huge hole in the roof!

So far we have tried hard not to work on the house on Sundays, but seeing that there was a gaping hole in our house on the 3rd floor and we have 5 kids under 11 running around, we decided we'd better get back to our project after church. The new construction came next....more work than it looks....our new motto: measure twice, cut once!!

Sun. night we threw in the towel a little early and slept out on the tramp w/the kids since they'd been so good.

BTW, the cat loved having free access to the roof all weekend...

Monday morning started w/a 0630 run to HD, then home to get the walls enclosed. We took a break at 1130 for our church Memorial Day picnic....the kids were thrilled to get out for a few hours. After the picnic we finished a few things up, then I left Adam home to finish while I took all FIVE kids to Target to birthday shop for Jacob and Wendy's for dinner. Since my closest Target is 25 minutes away I don't get there very often....so it was really fun for a few minutes....

Adam wasn't having much more fun at home though.....he's never been big on wrapping presents, and the huge roll of TVEK on the roof by himself in a wind storm got a little tricky....he said he thought about diving off head first a few times....

He eventually got it on though, and I eventually got all 5 kids from Target home w/a small amount of sanity left....

Finally everyone to bed....we slept sound last night!! I was glad Adam finished the TVEK and tar paper last night, because we awoke to rain this morning!! And a major DIY hangover!!!

New Elmhurst School Record!!

Emma broke the 2004 girls school record today by 5 seconds! Her time was 6:35 that's 22 seconds off her time a few weeks ago. You go girl!!! It was so fun to watch. She takes it pretty seriously, she spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom this morning, stretched, and didn't eat a ton of breakfast. Then her last words to me as they were lined up to go was, "I have to go to the bathroom". Her friend reassured her they'd just gone though and she'd be fine. She was quite happy with her results....she'd much rather be running any day than taking a spelling test!

Oh, and if you can't read her shirt, is says "I love mom", I have no idea how I got her to wear it, but I loved it!!

This is what happens when I put Sarah in charge for a few minutes..... Emma's state project was due last week....hello parent homework!! It drives me nuts, this year both girls' teachers want EVERYTHING typed....and knowing the kids don't type yet, they specify for the parents to type it!! What happened to a little good old fashioned "use your best handwriting"?? Either that or maybe TEACH THE KIDS TO TYPE at school!! She was pretty happy w/her end product though, and the boys and I were able to visit the 5th grade US States fair on Wed. Emma's teacher assigned her to the state of RI b/c she seems to know a lot about Utah, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, and Japan but nothing about the state she actually lives in.

Saturday morning was chilly, but we still got up early for a Kids Fun Run on base. This was Isaac and Jacob's first one and they did great, both ran the whole 1/2 mi. Jake did a casual jog, and Ike ran his hardest. Emma thought of it as training for her 1 mile run at the 5th grade field day this Wed.

After the race we hit T-ball. Ike and Jake are both on Adam's team. Adam usually coaches the girls' team, this is his first time w/T-ball. He compares it to hearding cats.

After T-ball, the weather warmed up and we added a waterfall to our pond. We also added our 2 hearty goldfish from the house, and 2 Koi. It's all I can do to keep Luke from throwing every yard toy into the water, and Jake from catching the fish w/the net.

This weekend's project: the MUCH stressed about shed dormers in the attic master suite!! We're going to attempt 1, the one that will be in the future bathroom. I keep telling Adam, "it's no big deal" that I want to cut off a few rafters out of our roof, even if our house is 150 years old...they're only holding up the roof, not the walls.....I don't know what he's stressing out about....

This is what I woke up to this morning........Mmmm, it was good. To back up a little though, I knew that the girls had secret plans of making me breakfast in bed this morning, so I lay in bed as long as I possibly could, until finally I thought I'd better check the clock, 8:31! We have church at 9:30. I jumped out of bed and started getting dressed....halfway through was interrupted by breakfast though and ordered back to bed. So I followed orders. Breakfast was awesome. And I got to listen to the girls fight the ENTIRE time because Emma had wanted to make it all by herself...she started this tradition last year and had plans of continuing it BY HERSELF until she left home at 18. I tried to explain to her how her siblings might want to help, and that I can only eat ONE breakfast mother's day morning, but got nowhere.....she'd have been much better off as an only child, but then again, who'd she boss around? Then they brought out the cards and homemade gifts.....Sarah made me a really nice refrigerator magnet which spelled MOTHER vertically, and she had thought of a word that described me for each letter. O stood for "organized". I said, "Ah, Sarah, you think I'm organized?" (I REALLY strive to be, but it seems near impossible most days) She said, "well, not really.....I mean, sort of, I guess". Dang it, such a compliment for a sec.

Who knew a garden was SO much work??? Hello!!! Yesterday after T-ball and swim team, we got out a few square mouthed shovels and began removing grass....let me say that was a very SLOW proccess!!! It sped up a little though when we finally got to the more dead area that was under the tramp. About 4 hours later we were finally to the point of tilling, so Adam rented one from HD....that part moved much faster, yeah! Then our neighbor that runs the horse farm behind us offered us this fence to keep the critters out, so Adam got it set up while I hoed some furrows. Let me just say, I am SO SORE today!!!

This afternoon the kids and I dropped a few seeds in while Adam grilled me a mother's day dinner. I am so excited! We'll see what really grows though....we're total rookies.

We had PERFECT mother's day weather today after church!! Adam on the roof is a normal occurance these day....he's getting ready to re-shingle it soon, and likes to go up there and look at it.

I was in charge of sharing time today at church, and so I had the kids make flower pens in a pot for their mothers. (thanks Mel!) I had asked the EQ (the younger half of the men at church) to come in and help out so that the primary teachers could go to RS for once.....it worked out so great! They totally had it under control, so even I left and went to RS and just came back right at the end. Love seeing men w/floral tape, flowers, and glue guns....too funny, they actually seemed to be enjoying themselves too. My pot was like a huge funeral spray.....my girls got a little competative w/a neighbor girl, who's mom's pot would have the most flowers....my girls said they won by one. I've got 17, all in one pot. As you can see, they ran out of flowers, and had to start making pens out of left over leaves. I should never have to search for another pen again!!!

This jeep Santa got the boys for $100 off craigslist was the best $100 he ever spent!! They ride it round and round the yard....love it!!! Even Luke can drive it now....his passengers get a little whiplash, but he loves it.

The horsefarm behind our house just got a new little pony named Tinker. Now that the weather's nicer, the girls have started helping out over there again (brushing horses, painting their nails w/some sort of conditioner that looks like nail polish, braiding manes, etc) Today for payment, the owner let them ride the pony for the first time....Emma and Sarah were in HEAVEN. For 9 months they've been drooling over those horses from our back yard, but today was the day.....

My brother's follow me EVERYWHERE!

That was the title of a poem that Sarah wrote at school and we typed up tonight. The poem went like this:

My brothers follow me EVERYWHERE!
When I am in my room they barge in
When I am in the tree house they climb up
They touch EVERYTHING and break it
They cry if they can’t follow me
When I go in my tree house they do
When I go on the trampoline they do
When I go in my room they do
They follow me EVERYWHERE!

At least she's venting her frustrations, that's healthy, right? She told me her teachers thought it was funny and picked it for the one she had to publish. She didn't see the humor in it like they did.

Emma came home from school today telling me that she'd run 1 mile in 6:56!! On the GRASS! That's faster than I can run. They had to try out for 5th grade field day. Only one other boy in her class beat her, coming in at 6:04. She said she wants to train this next month so she can beat him.

I got the girls swimming again. The team Em was swimming with on base lost their coach and dissolved for the time being. She took the past 6 wks off while we figured out what to do, and Sarah took a little break from gymnastics....my life was SO much simpler! But we're back to the usual craziness!! We found another team (further away and more expensive, but what do you do?) and she and Sarah started this week. Yes, I've got Sarah swimming again instead of gymnastics for the summer (her trial period she says, to decide what she wants to do) which will simplify my life, a 2 for 1 deal!! My life is revolving around the "S" word: SIMPLIFY!! (ok, between the pets and children 3&under, there really are 2 "S" words! but I'll save that for another day)

Today my friend Ellen came over, (her husband's in Iraq and she has 4 kids 5&under!). We had lunch and I helped her kids make a stepping stone for Mother's day....that's what I'd requested for my presents from my kids, so I already had all the supplies. Adam was going to help my boys make theirs so it would be a surprise for me, but they were dying to do theirs as well....who needs surprises? The sun came out for a whole 30 minutes while we worked, it was so much fun!!


We're going to try to plant our very 1st garden this Saturday....wish us luck!! Any helpful tips from all you gardeners would be WELCOMED!!

Back to life, back to reality.....

Party's over. We were so sad to take Yumi back to the airport this morning. We had such a great week! Monday: Children's Museum in Boston, Tues: shopping and Japanese cooking class for me ( seriously didn't learn much while living in Japan for 3 years!), Wed: No rain, sun's out! A drive along Ocean Drive, then a babysitter for the boys and a tour of a Newport Mansion, and shopping and dinner! The girls are so thrilled whenever I get a babysitter but still let them come.

The Breaker's, the Vanderbilts' "summer cottage"....and I'd be happy w/a pop up trailer for summer vacationing!

Who could possibly need 23 bathrooms?